Chapter 96: Family Dispute!
In Long County, Tuchengba’s affordable housing complex, apartment 2704, unit 2, building 2. The oscillating fan blew away the afternoon heat.
Tian Zhuang held a large bowl, eating heartily from the shredded potatoes, green beans, loofah, and green beans stir-fried with meat on the table.
After finishing a large bowl of rice, Tian Zhuang looked at his mother, Yao Fang, who was approaching sixty years old: “Mom, where’s my salary card? How much money is saved on it now?”
Yao Fang was tidying up bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen, her voice echoing back: “I’ve kept your card. I don’t know how much money is on it. It’s just there, to be used for buying a house later on.”
Tian Zhuang put down his bowls and chopsticks and said, “Mom, please find my card. I need to use it to buy something.”
“What do you need to buy?” Yao Fang darted out of the kitchen, still holding a cloth stained with green residue from wiping the kitchen table.
“To buy things for practicing surgery, it costs over three thousand yuan!~” Tian Zhuang looked up.
Yao Fang’s pupils constricted, her movements stiffening: “What could be so expensive, son, have you been tricked by someone?”
“Didn’t you buy a set already?”
Tian Zhuang stood up and replied, “The equipment I bought is too big and not suitable for later use. Doctor Lu from our department said that for practicing surgery later, smaller equipment is needed.”
Yao Fang knew Tian Zhuang was practicing surgery, but she still frowned and clicked her tongue: “That’s too expensive, over three thousand yuan. If I don’t buy it, I can’t practice?”
“I can’t practice!~ I have to buy it.”
As Tian Zhuang said this, he added, “Mom, please find my salary card for me. It doesn’t matter if there’s money in it or not. From now on, I want to manage my own money.”
Yao Fang’s eyeballs bulged: “What are you trying to do? Are you rebelling?”
“You can’t keep track of money well!~”
Tian Zhuang said, “Mom, for all these years, I’ve given you all my salary. I’ve calculated it, and it’s at least more than double what you spent on my university tuition.”
“I’m grown up now and need to use my own money.”
“It’s not appropriate for you to always use my money to pay off the loans for my two older brothers. I need money too!~” Tian Zhuang’s voice was very direct.
After hearing this, Yao Fang immediately tightened her tone and said, “Your father passed away early. For your education, your two brothers didn’t pursue much schooling. Now that you have a job, you’re starting to dislike us, aren’t you?”
“What are you saying? Your fourth brother is not married yet, your eldest brother’s son is still young, and your second brother just got married.”
Tian Zhuang looked at Yao Fang and said, “Eldest brother didn’t get into university on his own. Second brother hit a teacher at school and left on his own.”
“It wasn’t because I was studying that they didn’t…”
Yao Fang said, “Then they don’t have much education. You have a better job now, so you should help out a bit.”
“Son, let me tell you, if you have a good job, many things don’t need to be rushed. Your two brothers are working in the county… they don’t have much money, and the houses they bought are also…”
Tian Zhuang interrupted, “Mom, you said it yourself, they are my brothers!”
“So, they should be supporting me, not the other way around. I’ve been working for so many years, my salary must be hundreds of thousands by now?”
“I don’t want it anymore. Give me my salary card, or I’ll reapply for a new one and cancel the old one. I’m just telling you this.”
“How dare you…” Yao Fang raised her hand to hit him.
Tian Zhuang said, “What’s there to dare or not dare? I’m not stealing or robbing…”
“Mom, if you keep talking like this, I’ll have to ask my uncle and uncles to come and mediate.”
Yao Fang’s expression became terrified and uneasy: “Tian Zhuang, who told you these crooked methods?”
“He’s harming you, harming our family, do you know that?”
“Your brothers, they also need to get married. Your job is good, so you need to be sensible. Otherwise, your two brothers’ households can’t even manage right now.”
“If your sister-in-law divorces your brother, what about your nephew?”
“Tian Zhuang… you can’t get ahead yourself and forget you’re family… Who’s been gossiping to you?”
“Is it that person named Lu Cheng? Mom will go find him…”
Tian Zhuang’s tone was firm: “No!~”
……
Two hours later, Tian Zhuang’s three older brothers had all arrived at the Tuchengba affordable housing complex.
Eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law were holding a three-year-old child. Second brother brought his second sister-in-law and sat near the television, glancing at Tian Zhuang.
Fourth brother, Tian Fu, crossed his legs and said, “I think the fifth one is right. His salary, of course, should be managed by himself.”
“The fifth one is also twenty-nine this year.”
“No!~” Eldest brother, Tian Wei, who was slightly overweight, immediately refused: “Fourth brother, you also know what kind of person our fifth brother is. If he handles money himself, he’s easily fooled.”
“It’s better for Mom to manage it.”
Second brother, Tian Qin, looked fawningly at Yao Fang: “Mom, the fifth one is trying to cause division, you must see clearly. Perhaps the fifth one is being misled by someone.”
Fourth brother, Tian Fu, had long been fed up with the first two brothers exploiting Tian Zhuang: “To put it bluntly, I’d rather be cheated by outsiders than by my own family.”
“Then find all of the fifth one’s salary from over the years. He earns at least a hundred thousand a year. He’s worked for three years, if you can produce two hundred thousand, then I’ll admit you two brothers are reliable.”
“Tian Fu, what do you mean by that? Are you saying we’re exploiting the fifth one? You need to clarify that. Mom herself said she distributes the family’s money.”
“Didn’t Tian Wei also hand over his salary?” Eldest sister-in-law Hong Yaqin said, “You’re the only one in the family who doesn’t follow orders.”
“Eldest sister-in-law, do you have any shame saying that?” Tian Fu asked.
“How much money has your household given to Mom in total? List it out.”
Just as Tian Qin was about to speak, Tian Fu said, “Just shut up, you don’t do anything serious every day, it’s good enough if you don’t ask the family for money.”
“You’re over thirty years old and still like an infant.”
Tian Fu looked at Yao Fang: “Mom, today, let’s be clear. Either you hand over the fifth one’s salary card, or I’ll call my uncles!~”
“Let’s make this clear, whether you manage the money for all of us, or each brother manages his own!~”
“Good heavens, the fifth one wants to buy equipment for practicing surgery and has to ask everyone? It’s a complete turnaround! There’s no place to reason anymore, is there?!”
Tian Wei said, “Buy it, buy it for the fifth one!~”
Tian Fu slapped the table: “This isn’t about buying equipment anymore, we must clarify the principles.”
As Tian Fu was speaking, he received a phone call.
He immediately stood up: “Uncle, you’re here, okay, I’ll come pick you up right away…”
“Tian Fu!~” Tian Wei and Tian Qin were extremely flustered.
Their father passed away, and their maternal uncle held significant influence.
Yao Fang might favor her two sons, but the maternal uncle wouldn’t be a troublemaker in the middle.
“I call you brothers out of respect, but without respect, what are you? Two societal riffraff!~”
“You don’t do proper things every day. Later, I’ll have Uncle reason with you!~”
“I really want to see how much blood it takes to pay for the fifth one’s tuition over the years for you all to think it’s reasonable…”
After Yao Zhonghua was brought in by Tian Fu, he had only listened for a few minutes before he was almost ready to physically reprimand Yao Fang as an elder brother.
“Yao Fang, go, give Tian Zhuang his salary card!~”
“How your household’s possessions are distributed, I, as an outsider, cannot interfere, but Tian Zhuang’s salary card is his own.”
“The child genuinely wants to learn a skill and buy something, and he still has to apply to you all?”
Yao Zhonghua saw Tian Wei and Tian Qin looking at him with dissatisfaction, and he angrily pointed at them: “What are you two looking at? Do you think I can’t beat you two anymore?”
“Let me tell you, if you dare to retaliate after I hit you because of this, even dogs would bark at you!~”
“Yao Fang, don’t look at me either. If I hit you now, no one can stop me!~”
“Not even if your father were here!”
